Tannehill v. Philadelphia Co.

Citations

• 2 Pa. Super. 159
• 1896 Pa. Super. LEXIS 30

Syllabus

<p>Oil and gas companies — Pipe line — Evidence—Location of line and property.</p> <p>In an action for damages arising from increased servitude imposed by laying a pipe line in a public road of which the plaintiff held the fee, the plaintiff may give evidence of the proximity of the pipe line to a drain leading to the cellar of his house; the declared purpose being “ to show the exact location of the pipe line and of the property.”</p> <p>Pipe line — Evidence as to damage to land — Experts.</p> <p>Witnesses being produced to show the value of land before and after the laying of a pipe line, the court properly refused to permit the witnesses to be examined as to whether each had gas pipe lines leading through the land of each; the purpose being “ to give the jury an idea of the ability of the witnesses to form and express an intelligent opinion as to the effect of this pipeline on this land.” Had such witnesses been offered as experts in laying of pipe lines and the effect of such lines on land, such questions might have been proper in cross-examination, but they are wholly incompetent and immaterial in chief for the purpose of fortifying the testimony of the witnesses as to the effect of this pipe line upon plaintiff’s land.</p>